Protect Bird Island with Critical Wildlife Area designation

The state-owned island in the Indian River Lagoon near Sewall’s Point is only 1.6 acres. A spoil island created by materials dredged from the lagoon, it’s officially named MC-2, the MC for Martin County.

Sally Swartz

Everyone calls it Bird Island, because birds adore it. They crowd onto it year-round like snowbird tourists pack into condos during the Season.

The tiny spec of sand has become a prime South Florida nesting ground and roosting spot for endangered wood storks, black pelicans, great blue herons and great egrets. A pink roseate spoonbill nested there last year, the first-ever spoonbill nest noted in Martin. An American oyster catcher stopped by. Little blue herons, little green herons and night herons roost in the mangroves. The frigate bird, which only nests in the Dry Tortugas, visited.

Bird Island is “a very important nesting and roosting site for all of South Florida,” said Carol Rizkalla, assistant regional biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Now Michael Yustin, who manages Martin’s environmental lands, wants the FWCC to declare Bird Island a Critical Wildlife Area, to give the birds more protection.

Aerial photo of Bird Island (Photo by Phil Owens)

Martin residents and officials have been concerned about Bird Island for years. Since 1970, more than 30 percent of the island has been lost to erosion. Attempts to anchor the sand with native plants failed when waves and high water washed away the plants.

In 2011, the federal, state and county governments teamed up to build a $650,000 reef-breakwater to protect the tiny island from pounding waves generated by storms and boat wakes. The project was controversial, even though the county’s share was only about $50,000, because some feared building the 395-foot reef would disturb the nesting birds.

So officials built the reef during a time when the fewest birds were nesting. Some cormorants, Mr. Yustin said, settled directly adjacent to the barge, but the reef was finished with little impact to the bird population. Bags of oyster shells went in behind the reef, which is made of rocks and about 12 feet tall. Only about two feet of the rocks show above the water’s surface.

A roseate spoonbill (Photo by Greg Braun)

So far, so good. Erosion has stopped and the little island even is growing slightly as sand accumulates. Now there’s a new problem. The county posted signs telling boaters to “Please Keep Back,” but many ignore the signs and beach boats on the island or wade ashore. That makes the birds fly away from their nests, leaving eggs vulnerable to cooling or to predators such as crows.

Laws are weak, Mr. Yustin said, and there’s no way to enforce keeping people off the island or from getting too close.

People fishing too close to the island leave fishing line in mangroves and along the shoreline. “We’ve had a lot of bird entanglement cases on the island,” he said. “We have found dead birds hung up on fishing line in the mangroves. We need more protection.”

Declaring the island a Critical Wildlife Area would create a 150-foot buffer around it and prohibit public access to it. A majority of residents at recent hearings have supported the plan. Only one, a commercial fisherman who fishes for bait nearby, objected to the restricted access.

A frigate bird (Photo by Greg Braun)

People still will be allowed to fish outside the buffer, Mr. Yustin said, “but the birds must be protected.” Warnings and education would be the most likely consequences for trespassers, but the Critical Wildlife Area designation would put law and clout behind protective action.

The next step is to seek Martin County Commission approval, then take the request to the FWCC.
That could be a challenge. While local FWCC officials support more protection for the island, the agency has not marked any Critical Wildlife Areas since 1991. Will the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission board members, all appointed by the governor, agree? The board includes contractors, engineers, a rancher, a real estate investor, and a former official of Northwest Florida’s St. Joe Company.

Still, the feds and the state spent more than half a million bucks to stop this birdy real estate from washing into the lagoon. The FWCC ought to be willing to help protect the island’s nesting and roosting residents.

Sally Swartz is a former member of The Post Editorial Board. Her e-mail address is sdswartz42@comcast.net